UNEMPLOYED FATHER OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN HELD ON FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS BAIL FOLLOWING ARREST FOR TRAFFICKING IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON THE INTERNET

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a thirty three year old man has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography following an investigation by the New York City Police Department’s Computer Crime Squad.

Michael Sanchez, of 454 East 148th Street, was charged with eight counts of Possessing a sexual performance by a child, a Class E felony offense punishable by a maximum sentence of four years imprisonment on each count. Bail for Sanchez was set at $50,000 by Criminal Court Judge Robert Torres.

Sanchez, married and the father of a four year old daughter and ten year old son, was arrested at his home where police executed a search warrant and seized three computers, and a quantity of compact discs and floppy discs. The confiscated material is under going forensic analysis.

Authorities began investigating Sanchez after being contacted by the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children (NCFMEC) which had examined images that Sanchez allegedly had uploaded to a Yahoo Internet site. Sanchez came under scrutiny because Yahoo monitors all material uploaded to its sites and notified NCFMEC. NCFMEC determined that the material was child pornography and contacted the New York City Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ameenah Karim of the Arson/Auto/Economic Crime Bureau.